Technology policy for the knowledge economy: Public support to young ICT service firms

Public intervention in high-tech sectors is often advocated to resolve market imperfections that may possibly limit the viability of young high-tech enterprises. Although some European countries have adopted national government support policies that explicitly target this type of firm, in Italy and in other EU countries, there are no national support measures specifically designed for them. The paper focuses on the information and communication technologies (ICT) services sector in Italy. It aims to investigate whether both horizontal general-purpose direct support mechanisms at the national level and financial support measures provided by local administrative entities (which rarely have been specific to the ICT sector) permit an efficient allocation of public funds.